The recent NCSC report findings showed that more than a quarter of the incidents the NCSC responded to were COVID-19 related. As England is about to enter a second lockdown, the security of virtual services/apps is crucial , particularly when considering remote working of essential organisations during the pandemic.

If the pandemic has taught us anything about cyber security, it is that business agility is dependent on how easily people can leverage enabling technologies such as web conferencing. The findings from the new NCSC report, which revealed a 10% rise in cyberattacks, prove just how much businesses and users depend on software that is often vulnerable to attack.

As companies continue to deploy their infrastructure into online environments, they will need to build security into the software development pipeline as early as possible.

Our recent State of Software Security report found that at least 76% of applications have at least one security flaw, and it takes about six months for teams to close half the security flaws they find. This is critical information to consider when protecting vital services as they adapt to the new normal. For example, the research showed that the government and education sector is significantly slower in remediating flaws than other industries. Thus, as parliament becomes ‘virtual’, we need to be certain that cyber security best practices are being applied consistently to protect the system.